[JDEV] existing protocol questions

[Patrick McCuller]

	Jer, thanks for answering questions 1-4 so quickly  :)

	About message <ext></ext> : why not structure extensions internally as an
XML document in a CDATA field? My reasoning is this: if the extended data is
structured, then clients will be less likely to trample on each other.  For
instance:

Client A likes to send receipts, so it stuffs a 'message ID' which is
essentially a hash of the last message received into the <ext> of the first
response it sends to Client B.  Client B, however, expects <timestamp> or
<favorite color> or goodness knows what. As a result, the secure hash is
totally inappropriate and neither side really knows why.

	This leads into feature negotiation, which you mentioned previously, but
perhaps it is time to get back to that discussion.


Patrick


>
> > 4.
> > 	How does the message extension work? What is its intended usage?
>
> Basically, it's so that two clients can communicate programatically
> easily.  The server doesn't touch the data in the <ext></ext> fields, and
> the user shouldn't see it directly(unless the client *wants* them to).
> As Tom mentioned, it's a way clients could add background information such
> as game data, etc... it's there for "future use" and extensability.
>
> Feel free to ask away if you have any more questions!  I know the docs at
> jabber.org are a bit sparse, but as soon as I get things moved this
> weekend I'll be updating and adding lots more!
>
> Jer
>
>